Welcome Back!
Hopefully, you have picked out your planner and are ready to get started! Now, I want to help you get started and create consistency with this creative practice. In order to accomplish this, let's break down memory planning into three parts: CAPTURE, COLLECT and CREATE.
[video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://www.cocoadaisy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/CAPTURE-COLLECT-CREATE.mp4"][/video]
Capture: What will you document in your memory planner?
For some, this first part is the roadblock to even starting a memory planner. It is my hope that by the end of this lesson, you will have plenty of ideas of what to capture and document.
Your memory planner is a time capsule of your life right now: so go ahead and capture it! Here is a list of things you could capture (in photos or just journaling) that will help create a snapshot of your life right now.
Currently: eating, drinking, reading, watching, listening to, making, growing, thinking about, worrying about, etc.
Your hobbies
Daily routines (laundry, carpool line, kid's practices or games, workouts, errands, morning and afternoon routines)
Changes to your routine (appointments, haircuts, outings)
Your Home (details you love, areas of your home that have changed)
Your neighborhood
Quotes and memes
Text messages (easy to screenshot and add to your planner)
Current events/headlines
photos from Instagram
Shopping Hauls (always interesting to see our tastes change over time)
Outfit of the Day
Selfies (get yourself on the page, even if it seems silly or uncomfortable)
Have friends and family send you photos of what is happening in their everyday life
Sick days/injuries (yes, even the crummy stuff has a place on your pages!)
One Little Word Documenting
Not every story will have a photo so it is a good idea to jot down notes about the details you'll want to include in your memory planner. If you use a planner, you could add notes to your monthly section or weekly section of your planner or include an insert that, once completed, could slip inside your memory planner for quick reference. The Week-on-one-Pages that come with the Classic and A5 Inserts work great for this. You could also make notes on your phone, in a small notebook, or with a pencil inside your memory planner. The key is to have a system for capturing your details, so you aren't relying on your memory when it comes time to create inside your memory planning.
COLLECT: Photos Sizing and Printing
Once you have captured your photos (if you plan to use them) and noted the details it is time to collect your supplies, including the photos. Collecting (printing) your photos can feel daunting and, sometimes, is a roadblock to creating, but it doesn't have to be! A typical 4x6 photo print will often be too large for most memory planner formats, so it is helpful to know a few techniques for resizing photos to better suit this style of memory keeping.
[video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://www.cocoadaisy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Photo-Collages.mp4"][/video]
If you would like to invest in a home photo printer, here are two great options:
Remember that the photos are small, so photo quality will be much less obvious than with larger photos. Better to have them printed and ready to go than to worry about quality. Decide how and when you will print/order photos and keep to that schedule.
COLLECT: Basic Supplies
Planner...CHECK! Photos...CHECK! And now let's gather the rest of the supplies you need to do the fun part, CREATING! I am breaking down supplies into two categories: the basic and the "extras". Let's look at the basic supplies first.
[video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://www.cocoadaisy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Basic-supplies.mp4"][/video]
At the core of memory planning you really only need a few things:
A planner
Photos (though, as I have mentioned, this is actually optional!)
Pencil
Pen
Paper Trimmer and scissors
Adhesive
A way to add color to the page (colored pencils, highlights, markers. etc.)
That's it! you could create a beautiful spread with just these supplies.
COLLECT: Extra Supplies
It IS fun to add a few extras! I'll start by saying the best place to start with the extras is what you already have in your stash. Whether you are a memory keeper, planner, cardmaker, or any other papercrafter, chances are you already have items that would work perfectly in your memory planner. So start with what you have!
[gallery columns="2" size="full" link="none" ids="831204,832348,827628,827606"]
In this video, I go over a few of my favorite extras including the Memory Keeping Stamps the Memory Keeping Sticker Kit, and the Travelers Notebook Memory Keeping Kit.
[video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://www.cocoadaisy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/The-Extras.mp4"][/video]
We covered a lot in today's lesson, didn't we? Take some time to work on capturing your memories and collecting your supplies so that you are ready to create! The rest of this class will focus on different techniques for creating fun memory planner spreads that you can use over and over again!
Lesson 2: Layering Elements and Decorative ClustersBack to Introdution Page
Your memory planner is a time capsule of your life right now: so go ahead and capture it! Here is a list of things you could capture (in photos or just journaling) that will help create a snapshot of your life right now.
Not every story will have a photo so it is a good idea to jot down notes about the details you'll want to include in your memory planner. If you use a planner, you could add notes to your monthly section or weekly section of your planner or include an insert that, once completed, could slip inside your memory planner for quick reference. The Week-on-one-Pages that come with the Classic and A5 Inserts work great for this. You could also make notes on your phone, in a small notebook, or with a pencil inside your memory planner. The key is to have a system for capturing your details, so you aren't relying on your memory when it comes time to create inside your memory planning.
Once you have captured your photos (if you plan to use them) and noted the details it is time to collect your supplies, including the photos. Collecting (printing) your photos can feel daunting and, sometimes, is a roadblock to creating, but it doesn't have to be! A typical 4x6 photo print will often be too large for most memory planner formats, so it is helpful to know a few techniques for resizing photos to better suit this style of memory keeping.
[video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://www.cocoadaisy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Photo-Collages.mp4"][/video]
If you would like to invest in a home photo printer, here are two great options:
Planner...CHECK! Photos...CHECK! And now let's gather the rest of the supplies you need to do the fun part, CREATING! I am breaking down supplies into two categories: the basic and the "extras". Let's look at the basic supplies first.
[video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://www.cocoadaisy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Basic-supplies.mp4"][/video]
At the core of memory planning you really only need a few things:
